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Spritopia Song Contest
The Spritopia Song Contest is a monthly singing competition held among many of the active member countries of the Spritopia Broadcasting Collective (SBC). Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and radio and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. The Contest has been broadcast every edition since its inauguration in 2017. It is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the Spritopia. Origins The first Contest was held in the town of TBA, TBA, on - TBA 2017. Format The format of the Contest has changed over the editions, though the basic tenets have always been thus: participant countries submit songs, which are performed live in a television programme transmitted across the Spritopia Network by the SBC simultaneously to all countries. A "country" as a participant is represented by one television broadcaster from that country: typically, but not always, that country's national public broadcasting organisation. The programme is hosted by one of the participant countries, and the transmission is sent from the auditorium in the host city. During this programme, after all the songs have been performed, the countries then proceed to cast votes for the other countries' songs: nations are not allowed to vote for their own song. At the end of the programme, the winner is declared as the song with the most points. The winner receives, simply, the prestige of having won, and the winning country is invited to host the second next edition. The programme is invariably opened by one or more presenters, welcoming viewers to the show. Most host countries choose to capitalise on the opportunity afforded them by hosting a programme with such a wide-ranging international audience, and it is common to see the presentation interspersed with video footage of scenes from the host nation, as if advertising for tourism. Between the songs and the announcement of the voting, an interval act is performed. These acts can be any form of entertainment imaginable. As national broadcasters join and leave the SBC feed, the SBC/Spritopia logo is displayed. Voting systems Since 1st edition countries award a set of points from 1 to 8, then 10 and finally 12 to other songs in the competition — with the favourite song being awarded 12 points. Due lower number of participants in 1st edition voting system was different. Presentation of votes After the interval act is over, when all the points have been calculated, the presenter(s) of the show call upon each voting country in turn to invite them to announce the results of their vote. Often the opportunity is taken by each country to show their spokesperson standing in front of a backdrop which includes a famous place in that country. Currently, the votes from 1 to 7 are displayed automatically on screen and the remaining points are read out in ascending order by the spokesperson, culminating with the maximum 12 points. Countries must announce the country names and points in English the scores are repeated by the Contest's presenters in the other language. The order in which countries would present their votes during Final is decided by host country. Voting order has to create as much suspense as possible when the votes were revealed. There is no specific rule if country has to use 100% jury, 100% televote or 50/50 combination of jury and televoting.